“I don’t know,” I muttered. In the days I’d been here, I’d seen pretty humans come and go. From lean fellow surfers, to suntanned volleyball players, to charismatic boys and sultry girls on the prowl for summer romance or a good time. The three trolls we’d run into today were very much in the “icky” category of the good time, but they weren’t unusual. They were here for a finite number of days, and then they’d be gone like everyone else.

Garret was probably no different. A pretty face that I would see only once, before he vanished into the unknown, never to be glimpsed again. I knew that. All the locals in Crescent Beach followed an unofficial rule: don’t get attached to tourists. Summer flings were fine. Kissing and long walks on the beach, making out under the stars, going to parties and doing it in the hot tub, all fine. But never promise, or let them promise, “forever.” Because no matter how much you liked them, no matter how perfect everything was, at the end of the summer they would always return home. And you’d be left with beautiful memories and the longing for what had been and what could never be again. Of course, I didn’t understand that attraction, how someone could get so attached to someone else. I figured it was a human thing and didn’t worry much about it.

Though there was something about Garret that was…strange.

Something I couldn’t quite pin down. The way he held himself, perhaps, so careful and controlled. Or that split-second look in his eyes right before Colin attacked him: flat, hard and dangerous. He ex-uded confidence, but at the same time, there was an uncertainty to him, like he wasn’t quite sure what to do, how to act. I sensed that the calm, stoic front he put up was a wall, and if I dug a little deeper, I would find a completely different person on the other side.

I wondered if I would ever see him again. And if I did, I wondered if I could somehow break through that dignified shell to the person beneath.

I gave myself a mental shake. What was I thinking? Garret was a stranger and, more important, he was a human. I would not ruin the rest of the summer pining over the—admittedly gorgeous—ghost of a human boy. Especially if I had to deal with Scary Talon Lady for the next two months. My summer was already short enough.

“Probably not,” I told Lexi, who gave another heartfelt sigh and straightened, tossing her hair back. I picked up my surfboard and turned toward the beach. Kristin had already driven off in her Mustang, claiming she had to be home for some lame-ass family event, and the boys wouldn’t be back for a while, so it was only us. “Come on. Walk me to the Smoothie Hut. I need a Mango Swirl to get this taste out of my mouth. You’re buying.”

Later, with the evening sun setting over the water, we sipped our drinks and chatted about the day’s adventures, a basket of cheese sticks between us on the table. We talked of Garret and Tristan’s valiant rescue, and Kristin’s continued bad taste in guys. Of course, Lexi agreed that the three frat boys were absolute creepers, and vehemently denied that she’d thought any of them were cute. But when she expressed her desire to castrate Colin with a pair of rusty prun-ing shears for hitting me, my stomach went cold at what had almost happened.

What would Talon do to me, I wondered, if I’d kil ed that human? If I’d Shifted right there and bit his head off? Blasted him to cinders, right in front of Lexi, Kristin, and everyone else? I remembered the smoldering heat in my lungs, the way my back had itched, ready to burst open with wings and scales. The way my human body suddenly had felt very tight and confined, as I’d clamped down with everything I had, trying not to change. The blaze of fury as my dragon surged up with a roar, wanting to shred that human into bloody confetti.

I shivered, appalled at my own violent thoughts. And, even more frightening, annoyed that I hadn’t gotten to Shift into my natural form and pop the human like a balloon. Wonder if I should tell Dante about this, I thought, as Lexi excused herself to go to the restroom. I guess I should; he’ll probably hear about it from Lex or Kristin anyway.

I just hope he doesn’t do the whole overprotective twin-brother freakout.

And then, I got that weird tickle on the back of my neck, a second before the rogue dragon slid into the seat across from me.

“Hey, Firebrand.”

The cool, sarcastic voice rippled through me, stoking a flame to life. It was as if my dragon had never died down, never settled into sleepy compliance. At the rogue dragon’s presence, it perked up again, instantly awake and aware. My eyes widened, and I sat back in my seat, staring at him.

The boy across from me smiled and casually helped himself to a cheese stick, oblivious to the heat singing through my veins. “Mind if I sit here?”

I could see the dragon in him, in his near-golden eyes, in the slightly dangerous grin he flashed me over the table, the smile of a predator. I could feel the flames burning within, my own dragon rising up to either challenge or accept, I wasn’t sure which. I did know one thing: talking to the rogue could get me in a lot of trouble, both from my trainer and Talon itself. And I didn’t care one iota.

My dragon snapped and flared, wanting out. I took a deep breath to cool myself off, and smirked back. “Free country.” I shrugged. “Do whatever you like.”

“Interesting choice of words.” The other dragon cocked his head, one corner of his lip twitching. I noticed he had a tattoo half-hidden beneath the collar of his shirt, some sort of Celtic knot or design. I was surprised. I didn’t think Talon allowed such things. “But, it’s not entirely free for us, is it?”